JP4633093B2 - Tablet front and back inspection device and appearance inspection device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tablet front / back surface inspection device and an appearance inspection device.

  Conventionally, an appearance inspection for inspecting a tablet for foreign matter adhering or dirt, deformation such as chipping or cracking, or defects such as defective printing has been automatically performed using an appearance inspection apparatus. In the case of automatically inspecting a flat tablet using such an appearance inspection apparatus, the tablet is usually first transported in an upright state with the radial direction up and down, and the tablet being transported is photographed with a camera. Side view image, and then transporting the tablet after changing the posture into a flat state with the thickness direction up and down, turning the tablet upside down during the transport, and photographing the tablet before and after the inversion with the camera A method of detecting the defect is obtained by obtaining images of the front and back surfaces of the tablet and subjecting the obtained side images and front and back images to image processing.

A specific example of such an appearance inspection apparatus for tablets is the appearance inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 14 (Patent Document 1). That is, the appearance inspection apparatus includes a tablet supply unit p1 that supplies a large number of flat tablets (hereinafter simply referred to as “tablets”) accommodated in a hopper p11 to an inspection mechanism unit, a side inspection drum p21, and a side imaging device p22. A side surface inspection unit p2 comprising: a posture conversion unit p3 having a posture conversion drum p31; a front surface inspection drum p41; a back surface inspection drum p42; a front surface imaging device p43; and a front surface imaging device p44 having a rear surface imaging device p44; The separation unit p5 having the non-defective product collecting conveyor p52 and the defective product collecting can p53, and although not particularly shown, each image captured by the three imaging devices p22, p43, and p44 is subjected to image processing to determine whether or not there is an appearance defect. And a determination unit for detection. In the figure, p221, p431, and p441 are cameras, and p222, p432, and p442 are illumination devices.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-51873

The appearance inspection by this appearance inspection apparatus is performed according to the following procedure.
(1) Side inspection of the side inspection part p2 in an upright state (hereinafter simply referred to as “upright state”) in which a large number of tablets randomly supplied from the hopper p11 are vertically up and down by the tablet supply part p1 Continuously supplied to the drum p21,
(2) The tablet is accommodated upright in the holding pocket of the side inspection drum p21, and the tablet p21 is conveyed downward by rotation of the drum p21, and the tablet being conveyed is rotated in the holding pocket. While taking an image of the entire side surface of the tablet by photographing with the side imaging device p22,
(3) The tablet is moved to the posture changing drum p31 of the posture changing unit p3, and the tablet p31 in the upright state is tilted sideways by the drum p31 and the thickness direction is turned up and down (hereinafter simply referred to as “the flat state”). ) And then delivered to the front surface inspection drum p41 of the front and back surface inspection portion p4,
(4) The tablet is stored in a flat state in a tablet storage pocket formed on the surface of the surface inspection drum p41, and the tablet p41 is transported downward by the rotation of the drum p41. Photographed with the imaging device p43 to obtain a surface image of the tablet,
(5) The tablet is transferred to the back surface inspection drum p42, stored in the tablet storage pocket of the back surface inspection drum p42 in a flat state inverted upside down, and the tablet in the flat state is conveyed downward by the rotation of the drum p42. At the same time, the tablet is photographed by the back side imaging device p44 during the conveyance to obtain a back side image of the tablet,
(6) Next, this tablet is transferred to the sorting drum p51 of the sorting unit p5, and the defective tablet is collected as a defective product collection p53 according to the inspection result obtained by image processing the side image, the front image and the back image. In addition, the non-defective tablets are transferred onto the non-defective product collecting conveyor p52 and conveyed to the collecting container c for recovery.

  However, in some cases, the appearance inspection apparatus cannot always stably capture an image when the side surface inspection unit p2 captures an image of the tablet side surface.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 15, the side surface inspection drum p21 constituting the side surface inspection portion p2 includes an inner cylindrical body p211 and an outer cylindrical body p212 that is rotatably disposed outside the inner cylindrical body p211. The rotation roller p213 is rotatable inside the inner cylindrical body p211 with the outer peripheral surface thereof exposed to the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical body p211 from the through window provided in the inner cylindrical body p211. In addition, as shown in FIG. 16, a large number of through-hole holding pockets p214 are formed in alignment on the peripheral surface of the outer cylindrical body p212. Then, as shown in FIG. 15, the side surface image of the tablet in the side surface inspection part p2 is stored in the holding pocket p214 of the outer cylindrical body p212 in an upright state, and the outer cylindrical body p212 is interposed. The tablet t is conveyed by rotating so as to roll on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical body p211, and the tablet t which is conveyed on the rotation roller p213 and stopped intermittently is stopped in an upright state by the rotation of the rotation roller p213. The rotation is performed as it is, and the rotating tablet t is photographed by the imaging device p22.

  In this case, when the tablet t is conveyed onto the rotation roller p213 by the rotation of the outer cylinder p212, the tablet t that has been moving while rolling on the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylinder p211 is the inner cylinder p211. In this case, the tablet t is lifted so as to ride on the rotation roller p213 protruding from the outer peripheral surface, and since the rotation is performed in this state, the posture at the time of rotation becomes unstable, and the tablet t cannot always be rotated in a stable posture. is there. In addition, since the tablet t that has been slowly rotating while rolling on the stationary and fixed inner cylinder p211 suddenly moves on the rotating roller p213 that rotates at a high speed and rotates rapidly, the tablet t rotates automatically. It takes some time to stabilize, and this tablet t rotates while rotating on a small-diameter rotation roller p213 that rotates at a high speed. Therefore, the tablet t inevitably jumps small on the rotation roller p213. It is difficult to rotate in a stable posture.

  For this reason, it is not always easy to take a picture of the rotating tablet t and obtain a clear side image, and improvement of this point is desired.

  In addition, the conventional appearance inspection apparatus receives the tablet t in an upright state from the side inspection drum p21 in the posture changing pocket formed on the outer peripheral surface of the posture changing drum p31, and conveys the tablet t by rotation of the posture changing drum p31. The tablet t is pushed down by the guide plate to change the posture of the tablet t from the upright state to the flat state in the posture changing pocket. Therefore, the load and impact on the tablet t during the posture changing are large. There is a risk that breakage such as cracks or chips may occur during this posture change.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 17, the posture change by the posture change drum p31 is received in the posture change pocket p311 of the posture change drum p31 from the side inspection drum p21 in an upright state, and a part of the tablet t is transferred. In a state of protruding from the posture changing pocket p311, the posture changing drum p31 is conveyed downward by rotation of the posture changing drum p31. At this time, the tablet t is fixed to the posture changing pocket p311 by the guide plate p32 fixed along the outer peripheral surface of the posture changing drum p31. In addition to preventing spilling off, the protruding portion of the tablet t is provided in the substantially V-shaped posture changing groove p321 in which only one edge p322 provided on the guide plate p32 is inclined with respect to the rotation direction. The protrusion t of the tablet t is pressed sideways at the inclined edge p322 of the posture changing groove p321, and the tablet t is put in the posture changing pocket p31. Is intended to posture converted into the lying state pushed down the inner.

   Thus, in this method, the tablet t is held on the peripheral surface of the posture changing drum p31, and when the tablet t is conveyed by the rotation of the posture changing drum p31, the tablet t in the upright state is moved to the posture of the guide plate p32. The tablet t is slid in contact with the conversion groove p321, and the tablet t is forcibly pushed down by the inclined edge p322 of the posture conversion groove p321. In such a case, there is a risk of breakage such as cracking or chipping. Furthermore, the tablet t must be allowed to enter the posture changing groove p321 in a stable upright posture. If the upright posture of the tablet t is unstable, it is between the guide plate p32 and the outer peripheral surface of the posture changing drum p31. There is a possibility that the tablet t may be sandwiched and the tablet t may be broken.

  Further, the posture changing pocket p311 formed in the posture changing drum p31 must be set to an appropriate size according to the size and shape of the tablet t in order to stably change the posture of the tablet t. Therefore, each time the type (size or thickness) of the tablet to be inspected is changed, it is necessary to replace the posture changing drum p31 with one having a posture changing pocket p311 of an appropriate size. When changing a tablet, a very complicated operation is required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, without giving a great deal of load or impact, front and back side inspection apparatus tablet by controlling the orientation of the tablet in prostration posture can perform front and back side inspection, and An object of the present invention is to provide a tablet appearance inspection apparatus for performing an appearance inspection on the side and front and back sides of a tablet while transporting the tablet using this .

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention conveys the tablet, which is supplied from the outside , by holding it on the outer peripheral surface in a flat state with the thickness direction up and down and rotating it at a predetermined speed. A surface inspection drum, and an outer peripheral surface disposed close to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum. The tablet is received from the surface inspection drum and held on the outer peripheral surface in a flat state in which the tablet is turned upside down. A back surface inspection drum that conveys the tablet by rotating at a predetermined speed, a surface imaging device that captures a surface image of the tablet by photographing the tablet held on the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum, and the back surface inspection drum in front and back side inspection device of a tablet formed by and a back surface image pickup apparatus for capturing a back side image of the tablet by shooting the retained tablet on the outer circumferential surface of the surface inspection drum and the bottom surface inspection drum, either A suction groove formed in the outer circumferential surface of the drum along the circumferential direction, a plurality of suction holes provided in the suction groove along the circumferential direction, and the suction holes along both side edges of the suction groove. At least a pair of rubber rings mounted on both sides of the drum, and the suction groove is sucked through the suction holes by suction from the inside of the drum, and the tablet is placed between the pair of rubber rings by the suction force. The pair of rubber rings provide a tablet front and back surface inspection device that is formed so as to partially cover the suction groove from both side edge portions .

In this front and back surface inspection apparatus, a plurality of suction grooves can be formed, and the rubber ring can be formed in a T-shaped cross section so as to project toward the suction grooves adjacent to both sides.

Further, when a plurality of the suction grooves are formed, the tablets can be held randomly between the tablet rows in accordance with the supply timing of the tablets supplied onto the suction grooves .

In addition, the vibration plate in which the tablet supply path through which the tablet can circulate in a flat state is formed is positioned so that one end thereof is positioned in the vicinity of the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum and is inclined downward toward the surface inspection drum. A tablet storage section for storing tablets on the other end of the diaphragm, and a supply section for supplying tablets to be inspected to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum. The tablet is continuously introduced into the tablet supply path of the diaphragm, and the tablet introduced into the tablet supply path is continuously moved to one end of the diaphragm by finely vibrating the diaphragm. May be supplied to the surface inspection drum from one end of the diaphragm.

Furthermore, the present invention is a tablet appearance inspection apparatus comprising the above-described tablet front and back surface inspection device and a tablet side surface inspection device that inspects the side surface of the tablet before or after the inspection by the front and back surface inspection device. The side surface inspection device includes an inner cylinder that continuously rotates at a predetermined speed, and a large number of through-hole-shaped holding pockets formed on the peripheral wall, and is rotatably disposed outside the inner cylinder. An outer cylinder that rotates intermittently along the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder, and a side imaging device that captures a side image of the tablet by photographing the tablet held in the holding pocket of the outer cylinder. A flat tablet is accommodated in an upright state with its radial direction up and down in the holding pocket of the cylinder, and the tablet is conveyed by rolling on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder by intermittent rotation of the outer cylinder. While the outer cylinder is intermittently stopped during the transfer Then, the tablet is rotated in the holding pocket by the continuously rotating inner cylindrical body, the tablet is photographed by the side imaging device, and an image of the entire side surface of the tablet is captured, and the obtained side image is image-processed. By this, the tablet external appearance inspection apparatus comprised so that the external appearance defect of a tablet side surface may be detected is provided.

According to the front and back surface inspection apparatus of the present invention, the front and back surfaces can be inspected by reliably controlling the tablet in a flat posture without giving a large load or impact. In addition, according to the appearance inspection apparatus of the present invention, the entire side surface, front surface and back surface of the tablet can be inspected as much as possible without causing any inconvenience such as breakage without giving a large load or impact to the tablet. In addition, it is possible to reliably perform a highly accurate and reliable appearance inspection.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, an Example is shown and this invention is demonstrated more concretely. FIG. 1 shows a tablet appearance inspection apparatus equipped with a side surface inspection apparatus and front and back surface inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Tablets to be inspected continuously supplied from a tablet supply unit A are shown in FIG. In addition, the side surface inspection unit B comprising the side surface inspection device of the present invention performs the appearance inspection of the side surface of the tablet, and the front and back surface inspection unit C comprising the front and back surface inspection device of the present invention performs the external surface inspection of the front and back surfaces of the tablet. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the tablet supply unit A includes a hopper 11 that supplies a tablet to be inspected into the apparatus, and a tablet that is continuously supplied from the hopper 11 at a predetermined speed. And an alignment feeder 13 that controls the tablets from the vibration feeder 12 to an upright posture and supplies the tablets to the side inspection drum 2 of the side inspection section B.

  Although not shown in the drawing, the alignment feeder 13 is formed with a plurality of rows of alignment grooves each having a width that allows the tablets to enter only in an upright posture, and a vibrator is disposed at the upper end of the alignment grooves. The tablet inserted from the vibration feeder 12 enters the alignment groove in an upright posture by the vibration of the vibrator, and the tablet is supplied to the outer peripheral surface of the side inspection drum 2 in the upright state. It has become so.

  As described above, the side surface inspection unit B is constituted by the side surface inspection device according to one embodiment of the present invention, and rotates while holding the tablet in an upright posture as shown in FIG. A side inspection drum 2, a side imaging device 3 having a camera 31 and an illumination device 32, and a defective product collection can 33 are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the side surface inspection drum 2 has an inner cylinder body 22 rotatably disposed outside a fixed shaft cylinder body 21, and further on the outer side of the inner cylinder body 22. An outer cylindrical body 23 is rotatably arranged, and the inner cylindrical body 22 is continuously rotated at a predetermined speed in the clockwise direction (arrow a direction) in FIG. 2 along the outer periphery of the shaft cylindrical body 21. The outer cylinder 23 is intermittently rotated at a predetermined speed in the clockwise direction (arrow a direction) in FIG. 2 along the outer periphery of the inner cylinder 22 that rotates continuously.

  A plurality of through-hole-shaped holding pockets 231 are arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylindrical body 23 to form a plurality of rows (eight rows in this example). The inner cylindrical body 22 is formed with rail grooves 221 having a concave cross section along the circumferential direction corresponding to the pocket rows of the holding pockets 231 on the outer peripheral surface thereof. Through-holes 222 are provided along the circumferential direction, and rubber rings 223 having a circular cross-section are mounted on both side edges of each rail groove 221 with the through-holes 222 interposed therebetween. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the shaft cylinder 21 is located slightly downstream of the tablet supply location, the imaging location, and the defective tablet discharge location, respectively, in the pocket row of the holding pocket 231. Correspondingly, through-groove suction windows 211, 212, 213 are formed. Further, the shaft cylinder 21 is formed with a compressed air injection nozzle 214 at a defective tablet discharge location and a compressed air injection space 215 at the lowermost tablet discharge location, and these compressed air injection nozzle 214 and compressed air injection space. The compressed air is supplied to the part 215 from the compressed air supply pipes 216 and 217, respectively.

  The side inspection drum 2 accommodates the flat tablet t supplied from the alignment supply unit 13 of the supply unit A in an upright state in the holding pocket 231 of the outer cylinder 23, and The tablet t is conveyed by rolling on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical body 22 by intermittent rotation, and is discharged from the holding pocket 231 at the lowermost tablet discharge portion. While the outer cylinder 23 is intermittently stopped, the tablet t in the holding pocket 231 is rotated by the side cylinder 3 while the tablet t in the holding pocket 231 is rotated by the continuously rotating inner cylinder 22. Thus, an image of the entire periphery of the side of the tablet is captured.

In this case, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the tablet t held and conveyed in the holding pocket 231 of the outer cylinder 23 is moved along the rail groove 221 of the inner cylinder 22 with the rubber ring 223. It is conveyed while rolling up. In addition, the inside of the shaft cylinder 21 is always sucked to be in a reduced pressure state, and at the place where the suction windows 211, 212, 213 are formed, the suction windows 211, 212, 213 and the inner cylinder 22 are formed. The inside of the rail groove 221 of the inner cylindrical body 22 is sucked through the through hole 222. By this suction force, the tablet t is surely moved into the holding pocket 231 from the aligning / supplying device 13 of the supply unit A at the tablet supply location, and the tablet t being photographed is outer periphery of the inner cylinder 22 at the imaging location. The tablet t is stably rotated while being adsorbed on the surface, and the tablet t is reliably prevented from dropping from the holding pocket 231 on the downstream side of the defective tablet discharge portion. In addition, between the defective tablet discharge location and the lowermost tablet discharge location,
As shown in FIG. 4, a dropout prevention guide 34 is disposed along the outer peripheral surface of the side inspection drum 2, and the dropout prevention guide 34 prevents the tablets from dropping out.

  Further, at the tablet discharge location at the bottom of the side inspection drum 2, compressed air is always supplied from the compressed air supply pipe 217 to the compressed air ejection space portion 215, and this compressed air passes through the through hole 224 of the inner cylindrical body 22 and the inner space. The tablet 22 is ejected from the rail groove 221 of the cylindrical body 22 into the holding pocket 231 of the outer cylindrical body 23, and all the tablets t transported to the tablet discharge portion are reliably discharged from the holding pocket 231 by this compressed air. It is supposed to be discharged.

  Further, at the defective tablet discharge location, compressed air is supplied from the compressed air supply pipe 216 to the compressed air injection nozzle 214 at any time, and this compressed air is removed from the rail groove 221 of the inner cylinder 22 through the through hole 222 of the inner cylinder 22. A defective tablet having a poor appearance on the side surface is ejected into the holding pocket 231 of the cylindrical body 23 and is selectively discharged from the holding pocket 231 and arranged outside the side surface inspection drum 2 corresponding to the defective tablet discharge location. The product is collected in a defective product collection can 33 (see FIG. 1).

  That is, although not particularly illustrated, the appearance inspection apparatus is provided with a side surface defect determination unit that detects the presence or absence of an appearance defect by performing image processing on the side surface image of the tablet captured by the side surface imaging device 3. According to the determination result of the side surface defect determination unit, compressed air is supplied from the compressed air supply pipe 216 to the compressed air injection nozzle 214 as needed, and only defective tablets are selectively discharged from the holding pocket 231 by the compressed air, and the defective product collection can 33 is discharged. It has come to be collected.

  Next, as described above, the front and back surface inspection unit C is constituted by the front and back surface inspection device according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. The surface inspection drum 4 and the back surface inspection drum 5 that are held on the outer peripheral surface in a flat state in which the thickness direction is up and down, and convey the same, the tablets and the back surface that are held on the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 4 The tablets held on the outer peripheral surface of the inspection drum 5 are photographed and the front surface imaging device 7 and the rear surface imaging device 8 for capturing the front image and the rear surface image of the tablet, respectively, and the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 4 to be inspected And a supply unit 6 for supplying a target tablet. In FIG. 1, 71 and 81 are cameras, and 72 and 82 are illumination devices.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the surface inspection drum 4 and the back surface inspection drum 5 are both ones in which outer cylinders 42 and 52 are rotatably disposed outside the inner cylinders 41 and 51. The outer cylinder 42 of the drum 4 is counterclockwise in FIG. 6 (in the direction of arrow a), and the outer cylinder 52 of the back surface inspection drum 5 is in the direction of the clockwise in FIG. 6 (in the direction of arrow b in the figure). It rotates continuously at a predetermined speed along the outer periphery of 41,51.

  In the inner cylinders 41 and 51, through grooves 411 and 511 are formed along the circumferential direction in approximately a half circumferential portion substantially coincident with the tablet conveyance region. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the outer cylinders 42 and 52 have a plurality of (six in the figure) suction grooves 421 and 521 formed in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface thereof. In addition, a large number of suction holes 422 and 522 are continuously provided in the suction grooves 421 and 521 along the circumferential direction, and a rubber ring having a T-shaped cross section along both side edges of the suction grooves 421 and 521. 423 and 523 are mounted across the suction holes 422 and 522.

  The inner cylinders 41 and 51 are always sucked to be in a decompressed state, and the suction grooves 422 and 522 of the outer cylinders 42 and 52 are passed through the through grooves 411 and 511 in the tablet conveyance region. The inside of 421,521 is aspirated. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the tablet t is sucked by the suction force in a state where the tablet t is straddled between the rubber rings 423 and 523 on the through grooves 411 and 511 on the outer peripheral surfaces of the outer cylinders 42 and 52. It is to hold.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the surface inspection drum 4 and the back surface inspection drum 5 are arranged side by side in the vertical direction with their outer peripheral surfaces being close to each other. A back surface inspection drum 5 is disposed on the lower side. Then, the tablet t is received from the supply unit 6 at the uppermost part of the surface inspection drum 4, held on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 42 of the surface inspection drum 4, and conveyed downward by the rotation of the outer cylinder 42, During the conveyance, the front surface imaging device 7 (see FIG. 1) takes a picture of the tablet, and the tablet t is transferred to the back surface inspection drum 5 at the bottom of the surface inspection drum 4. The outer cylinder 52 is held on the outer peripheral surface and is conveyed downward by the rotation of the outer cylinder 52. During the conveyance, the back surface imaging device 8 (see FIG. 1) is used to photograph the tablet, and the tablet t is a non-defective product at the bottom. It is discharged to the discharge chute 91.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 6, a compressed air injection nozzle 412 is disposed at the lowermost part in the surface inspection drum 4, and the tablet is better formed by compressed air injected from the compressed air injection nozzle 412. Is transferred from the front surface inspection drum 4 to the back surface inspection drum 5.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the tablet t is transferred between the rubber ring 423 of the front inspection drum 4 and the rubber ring 523 of the rear inspection drum 5 as shown in FIG. At this time, the compressed air injected from the compressed air injection nozzle 412 disposed inside the surface inspection drum 4 is inserted into the through groove 411 of the inner cylinder 41 and the suction hole 522 of the outer cylinder 42. The tablet t is ejected from the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 4 by the compressed air and is sucked from the inner surface of the inner cylinder 51 to the outer peripheral surface of the back surface inspection drum 5. The tablet t is adsorbed and smoothly transferred from the front surface inspection drum 4 to the back surface inspection drum 5.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a compressed air injection box 512 is disposed at the bottom of the back surface inspection drum 5, and compressed air is always injected from the compressed air injection box 512. Is ejected from the suction groove 521 of the outer cylinder 52 to the outer peripheral surface of the back inspection drum 5 through the through-groove 511 of the inner cylinder 51 and the suction hole 522 of the outer cylinder 52 and held on the outer peripheral surface of the back inspection drum 5 t is discharged to the non-defective product discharge chute 91 satisfactorily.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a compressed air injection nozzle 513 for discharging defective products is disposed slightly upstream of the tablet discharge portion in the back surface inspection drum 5. The compressed air is ejected from the nozzle 513 at any time, and the compressed air is ejected from the suction groove 521 of the outer cylinder 52 through the through groove 511 of the inner cylinder 51 and the suction hole 522 of the outer cylinder 52. Is removed from the outer peripheral surface of the back surface inspection drum 5 and discharged to the defective tablet discharge chute 93.

  That is, although not specifically shown, the appearance inspection apparatus detects front and back defects by performing image processing on the front and back images of the tablets taken by the front surface imaging device 7 and the back surface imaging device 8 to detect the presence or absence of appearance defects. A determination unit is provided, and compressed air is ejected from the compressed air injection nozzle 513 as needed according to the determination result of the front and back surface defect determination unit, and only the defective tablet t ′ is selected from the outer peripheral surface of the back surface inspection drum 5 by the compressed air. Therefore, the defective product discharge chute 93 is discharged. It should be noted that the fact that the defective tablet t ′ has been conveyed to the location where the compressed air injection nozzle 513 is disposed can be easily recognized by the elapsed time from the time when the image is captured by the front surface imaging device 7 or the back surface imaging device 8. it can.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 95 denotes a cleaning device that cleans the outer peripheral surfaces of the front surface inspection drum 4 and the back surface inspection drum 5.

  Next, the supply unit 6 for supplying the tablet t to be inspected to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 4 is discharged from the side inspection drum 2 of the side inspection unit B as shown in FIG. A tablet container 61 for temporarily storing the tablets, a diaphragm 62 for transporting the tablets in the tablet container 61 onto the surface inspection drum 4, and moving the tablets from the tip of the diaphragm 62 onto the surface inspection drum 4 And a tablet supply roller 63 to be used.

  As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the tablet container 61 has a turntable 611 that is driven by a motor m and rotates at a predetermined speed, and the same rotation center as the turntable 611 on the turntable 611. An outer chamber 612 formed by a ring-shaped peripheral wall 612a disposed in the center, and a ring-shaped ring having a smaller diameter than the outer chamber 612 disposed eccentrically with the rotation center of the turntable 611 inside the outer chamber 612. An inner chamber 613 formed by a peripheral wall 613a and a communication body 614 disposed on the turntable 611 in the outer chamber 612 are provided.

  In the peripheral wall 613a forming the inner chamber 613, a communication window 616 communicating with the outer chamber 612 is provided in a part thereof, and an obstacle wall 615a is provided in the vicinity of the communication window 616. The obstacle wall 615a causes the tablet t in the inner chamber 613 that moves in a circle with the turntable 611 to move toward the communication window 616, and the tablets move to the outer chamber 612 through the communication window 616. Yes. In addition, an obstacle wall 615b similar to the above is provided in the outer chamber 612 in the vicinity of the place where the communication body 614 is provided, and the obstacle wall 615b removes a tablet that has approached the peripheral portion of the outer chamber 612 by centrifugal force. The tablet is guided back to the connecting body 614 by returning to the inside.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the connecting body 614 has a substantially plate shape that is curved in an arc along the peripheral edge of the outer chamber 612, and extends along the peripheral edge of the outer chamber 612. The outer chamber 612 is disposed on the turntable 611 substantially in contact with one end of the outer chamber 612 facing the rotation direction of the turntable 611, and the other end passes through the peripheral wall 612 a of the outer chamber 612. The diaphragm 62 is connected. The connecting body 614 is formed with a plurality of (six in the figure) connecting passages 617 whose lower surfaces are open, and the connecting passages 617 are set to have a width and height at which the tablet t can flow in a flat state. In addition, the open lower surface is closed by a rotating turntable 611. One end of the communication path 617 is opened on the turntable 611 in the outer chamber 612 so as to face the rotation direction of the turntable 611, and the other end is connected to the tablet supply path 621 of the diaphragm 62. It is connected.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the diaphragm 62 has one end positioned in the vicinity of the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 4 and the other end connected to the connecting member in the surface inspection drum 4. A plurality of (six in this example) tablet supply paths 621 through which tablets t can circulate in a flat state are formed. In addition, these tablet supply paths 621 are in a state where the upper surface of one end portion disposed in the vicinity of the surface inspection drum 4 is partially opened.

  The diaphragm 62 is slightly vibrated by a vibration generator 64 (see FIG. 1), and the tablet t introduced into the tablet supply path 621 from the communication path 617 of the communication body 614 is caused by the vibration. The surface inspection drum 4 is continuously moved to one end close to the outer peripheral surface.

  Further, the tablet supply roller 63 is an elastic roller formed of silicone rubber or the like, and as shown in FIG. 13, a part of the outer peripheral portion thereof is opened at one end portion of the diaphragm 62. It is arranged in a state of entering the tablet supply path 621 from the section. The tablet supply roller 63 rotates at a constant speed at an arbitrary speed, and moves the tablet t from one end of the vibration plate 62 onto the surface inspection drum 4 at an arbitrary speed.

  The supply unit 6 including the tablet storage unit 61, the vibration plate 62, and the tablet supply roller 63 transfers the tablets discharged from the side inspection drum 2 of the side inspection unit B to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 4 in a flat state. And supply continuously.

  That is, the tablet t discharged from the side surface inspection drum 2 of the side surface inspection unit B is continuously charged into the inner chamber 613 of the tablet container 61 through the communication chute 65 (see FIG. 1). While rotating circularly by the turntable 611, it moves outward by centrifugal force, moves to the outer chamber sequentially through the connection window 616, and further moves outward by centrifugal force by the rotation of the turntable 611. It rotates while entering the connecting path 617 of the connecting body 614. Then, it is continuously introduced into the tablet supply path 621 of the vibration plate 62 through the communication path 617, and sequentially toward the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 4 by the tablet supply roller 63 at one end of the vibration plate 62. It moves and the tablet t is continuously supplied to the surface inspection drum 4 at a predetermined speed.

  Next, the operation of this example visual inspection apparatus will be described. The appearance inspection apparatus of the present example performs a side inspection on the side surface of the tablet supplied by the tablet supply unit A by the side surface inspection unit B, and selectively eliminates defective tablets having an appearance defect on the side surface of the tablet. All the tablets with no defects are loaded from the side surface inspection drum 2 of the side surface inspection unit B into the tablet container 61 of the front and back surface inspection unit C, and the front and back surface inspection unit C conducts the front and back surface inspection. Alternatively, defective tablets having an appearance defect on the back surface are selectively excluded, and non-defective tablets having no appearance defect on both the side surface and the front and back surfaces are collected from the back surface inspection drum 5 of the front and back surface inspection unit C.

  First, tablets randomly supplied from the hopper 11 of the tablet supply unit A are charged into the alignment supply unit 13 at a predetermined speed by the vibration feeder 12, and the tablets of the side inspection unit B are in an upright state from the alignment supply unit 13. It is put into a holding pocket 231 formed in the outer cylinder 23 constituting the side inspection drum 2.

  The tablets t received and held in the holding pockets 231 formed in the outer cylinder 23 of the side inspection drum 2 are in an upright state by intermittent rotation of the outer cylinder 23 as shown in FIGS. As it rolls on the rubber ring 223 mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 22 that is continuously rotating, it is conveyed downward. Then, when the outer cylinder 23 is transported to the shooting location by the side imaging device 3 and the rotation of the outer cylinder 23 is intermittently stopped, the tablet t is held in the holding pocket 231 and continuously rotated while being stopped. On the outer peripheral surface of 22 (on the rubber ring 223), it rolls and rotates, and when the tablet t is photographed by the side imaging device 3 in this state, an image of the entire side surface of the tablet t is captured.

  When the side image is captured, the side image is subjected to image processing by the side defect determination unit, and the presence or absence of an appearance defect is determined. If the determination result is “defective”, when the defective tablet is conveyed to the defective tablet discharge portion shown in FIG. The compressed air is ejected from the compressed air ejection nozzle 214, and the compressed tablets are discharged from the holding pocket 231 of the outer cylinder 23 by the compressed air and are collected in the defective product collection can 33.

  On the other hand, the tablet having no appearance defect on the side surface whose determination result is “no defect” is further conveyed downward by intermittent rotation of the outer cylinder 23, and the inner cylinder is formed at the lowermost portion of the side inspection drum 2. The compressed air ejected from the compressed air ejection space 215 of the body 22 is discharged from the holding pocket 231 of the outer cylindrical body 23, and continuously through the communication chute 65 to the tablet accommodating part 61 constituting the supply part 6 of the front and back surface inspection part C. It is thrown into.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the tablet t that does not have a poor appearance on the side surface that has been put into the tablet accommodating portion 61 is first accommodated on the turntable 611 in the inner chamber 613 from the communication chute 65. The inside of the inner chamber 613 is moved outward by centrifugal force while circularly moving in a flat state by the rotation of the turntable 611, and sequentially moved to the outer chamber 612 through the connection window 616 provided on the peripheral wall 613a of the inner chamber 613. To do. The tablet t moved to the outer chamber 612 is moved outward in the outer chamber 612 by being pushed outward by the centrifugal force and the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 613a while circularly moving in a flat state by the rotation of the turntable 611. Then, it enters into the connecting path 617 of the connecting body 614 disposed along the peripheral edge in the outer chamber 612 in a flat state, and is introduced into the tablet supply path 621 of the diaphragm 62 through this connecting path 617. The

  As shown in FIG. 13, the tablet t introduced into the tablet supply path 621 of the vibration plate 62 is brought close to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 4 while being flattened by the slight vibration of the vibration plate 62. The diaphragm 62 is sequentially moved to one end of the arranged diaphragm 62, and one end of the diaphragm 62 is supplied to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 4 one by one at a predetermined speed by a tablet supply roller 63 rotating at a predetermined speed. Is done.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the tablet t supplied onto the surface inspection drum 4 is sucked and held in a flat state on a rubber ring 423 mounted on the outer periphery of the outer cylinder 42, and the outer cylinder 42. It is conveyed downward by continuous rotation. Here, the tablets t supplied from the diaphragm 62 to the surface inspection drum 4 are supplied at regular intervals according to the rotation speed of the tablet supply roller 63 in each row, but between each row. As shown in FIG. 9, the tablets t transported while being supplied on the surface inspection drum 4 are transported while the tablets t are held at regular intervals within each tablet row. However, the tablets t are held and transported randomly between the tablet rows.

  Each tablet t that is sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 42 of the surface inspection drum 4 is photographed by the surface imaging device 7 at the photographing location shown in FIG. 6, and the surface image of each tablet t is captured. It is. When the front surface image is captured, the front surface image is immediately subjected to image processing by the front / back surface defect determination unit to determine whether there is an appearance defect, and the determination result is stored in the front / back surface defect determination unit. After the photographing, the tablet t is further conveyed downward and delivered to the back surface inspection drum 5 at the bottom of the surface inspection drum 4.

  The tablet t delivered to the back surface inspection drum 5 is adsorbed and held on a rubber ring 523 mounted on the outer periphery of the outer cylinder 52 as in the case of the front surface inspection drum 4. It is conveyed downward. Then, when the back surface image of each tablet t is captured by the back surface imaging device 8 at the capturing location shown in FIG. 6 and the back surface image is captured, the back surface image is immediately converted by the front and back surface defect determination unit. Image processing is performed to determine whether or not there is an appearance defect, and the determination result is stored in the front and back surface defect determination unit.

  When the front / back surface failure determination unit determines that there is a defect on either the front surface or the back surface, the defective tablet t ′ is turned into the defective tablet exclusion unit shown in FIG. When transported, the compressed air is ejected from the compressed air injection nozzle 513 disposed in the back surface inspection drum 5, and the defective tablet t ′ is removed from the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 52 by this compressed air, and the defective tablet discharge chute 93 is discharged. And is collected in a defective tablet collection can 94.

  On the other hand, the tablets determined to be “no defects” on both the front and back surfaces pass through the defective tablet exclusion section and are arranged in the back surface inspection drum 5 at the tablet discharge section shown in FIG. The compressed air is ejected from the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 52 by the compressed air ejected from the compressed air injection box 512, passes through the non-defective product discharge chute 91, and is transferred onto the non-defective product recovery conveyor 92 (see FIG. 1). It is carried out and collected.

  Thereafter, the operation from the supply of the tablets by the hopper 11 to the unloading of the non-defective tablets by the non-defective collection conveyor 92 is continuously repeated, and the side and front and back surfaces of the tablets are inspected.

  Thus, in the appearance inspection apparatus of this example, the side inspection of the tablet is performed by the side surface inspection unit B, the defective tablet having the appearance defect on the side surface is excluded by the side surface inspection unit B, and then there is no appearance defect on the side surface. For tablets, the front and back surface inspection part C performs front and back surface inspection, excludes defective tablets having an appearance defect on the front surface and / or the back surface, and only non-defective tablets that do not have an appearance defect on both the side surface and the front and back surfaces. It is to be collected.

  Here, as described above, the side surface inspection apparatus constituting the side surface inspection unit B includes the inner cylinder body 22 that rotates continuously inside the outer cylinder body 23 that accommodates and transports the tablet t in the holding pocket 231. The tablet t accommodated in an upright state in the holding pocket 231 of the outer cylindrical body 23 is conveyed while rolling on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical body 22 by intermittent rotation of the outer cylindrical body 23, and intermittently stopped at a predetermined conveying position. The side image of the tablet t is captured by photographing the tablet t that rotates while rolling on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 22 continuously rotating in the holding pocket 231 of the outer cylinder 23 thus obtained. It is configured.

  Accordingly, the tablet t is in a state of rotating while being rolled on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 22 regardless of whether the image is being conveyed or the side image is being captured, and is photographed by a rotation roller separately provided on the inner cylinder. Unlike conventional devices that rotate tablets at the time, the tablets are not lifted by riding on the rotation roller, and the tablets can be rotated in the same state as at the time of transportation during shooting, and still Compared to the conventional device in which the rotation speed is rapidly increased by moving on the rotation roller that rotates at a high speed from the inner cylinder, the tablet t can be shifted to the rotation state for photographing very smoothly. A side image can be taken in while stably rotating the tablet t. In addition, since the inner cylinder 22 that rotates the tablet t at the time of side surface shooting has a much larger diameter than the conventional rotation roller, the tablet t that rotates at the time of shooting in the apparatus of this example moves on the conventional rotation roller. Compared to the case of rotating while rolling, the tablet t rotates while rolling on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 22 which is much closer to a flat surface, and from this point, the tablet t can rotate stably.

  Thus, according to the side surface inspection apparatus which comprises the side surface inspection part B of the external appearance inspection apparatus of a present Example, the tablet t is rotated more stably compared with the conventional apparatus which rotates a tablet using a rotation roller. Therefore, the side image can be taken in, and thus a clearer side image can be surely obtained, and a more accurate side inspection can be performed.

  In addition, the front and back surface inspection apparatus constituting the front and back surface inspection unit C, as described above, draws the tablet t on the rubber rings 423 and 523 disposed on the outer peripheral surfaces of the front surface inspection drum 4 and the back surface inspection drum 5 by suction. Is sucked and held in a flat state and conveyed, and the tablet t is reversed by passing the tablet t between the surface inspection drum 4 and the back surface inspection drum 5, and the tablets on the surface inspection drum 4 and the back surface inspection are performed during the transportation. Each of the tablets on the drum 5 is photographed to capture images of the front and back surfaces, and the appearance inspection of the front and back surfaces is performed. In this case, in the apparatus of this embodiment, the tablet t stored in the tablet container 61 is introduced into the tablet supply path 621 of the diaphragm 62, and this is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 4 by the slight vibration of the diaphragm 62. The tablet supply path 621 is formed in such a width that the tablet t can be circulated in a flat state, so that the tablet supply path 621 is vibrated by the vibration of the vibration plate 62. The tablet t is surely flattened, and the tablet t is moved from one end of the diaphragm 62 onto the surface inspection roller 4 to supply the tablet t onto the surface inspection drum 4 in a flat state. is there.

  Therefore, the side surface inspection is performed by the side surface inspection device of the side surface inspection unit B, and the tablet t, which has been confirmed to have no appearance defect on the side surface, is put into the tablet storage unit 61, and this is Supply to the inspection drum 4 and transport it, transfer it to the back surface inspection drum 5, reverse it, further transport it, capture the images of the front and back surfaces during the transportation, and inspect the front and back surfaces for side inspection Without performing any special operation for changing the posture of the tablet t subjected to the side inspection by the side inspection drum 2 of the apparatus from the upright state to the flat state, the tablet t simply subjected to the side inspection is put into the tablet accommodating portion 61. Thus, the appearance inspection of the front and back surfaces can be performed.

  Therefore, according to the front and back surface inspection apparatus constituting the front and back surface inspection unit B in the external appearance inspection apparatus of the present embodiment, the posture inspection of the front and back surfaces is performed by forcibly changing the posture of an upright tablet into a flat state. Compared to this device, the load and impact on the tablet t can be greatly reduced, and the front and back side can be inspected, and the front and back side can be inspected reliably without causing any cracks, chips or scrapes on the tablet. It is something that can be done.

  Further, in the front and back surface inspection apparatus constituting the front and back surface inspection unit C in the appearance inspection device of the present embodiment, the tablet t is placed on the rubber rings 423 and 523 mounted on the outer peripheral surfaces of the front surface inspection drum 4 and the back surface inspection drum 5. Since the film is picked up and held on the outer peripheral surfaces of the drums 4 and 5 and shooting is performed, the tablet t is not shaded at the time of shooting and is held by the surfaces of the drums 4 and 5 without rattling. Therefore, a clear image can be obtained with certainty, and a highly accurate appearance inspection of the front and back surfaces of the tablet can be performed. Further, when the tablet t is transferred from the front surface inspection drum 4 to the back surface inspection drum 5 and reversed, the tablet is sandwiched between the rubber ring 423 of the front surface inspection drum 4 and the rubber ring 523 of the back surface inspection drum 5. At this time, the elasticity of both rubber rings 423 and 523 and the bending of the rubber rings 423 and 523 ensure that the tablets t are delivered without applying a large load to the tablets t, and the tablets t are surely not damaged. Can be transferred and reversed.

  Furthermore, since the tablet t is sucked, held and transported across the pair of rubber rings 423, 523, it can be sucked, held and transported without any problem even if the size of the tablet t changes. In addition, when the tablet t is delivered as described above, the tablet is temporarily sandwiched between the rubber rings 423 and 523 using the elasticity of the rubber rings 423 and 523 and the deflection thereof. Even if the thickness of t changes, the elasticity of the rubber rings 423 and 523 and the bending thereof allow the tablet t to be transferred from the front surface inspection drum 4 to the back surface inspection drum 5 without causing problems such as breakage. It can be done. Therefore, according to the front and back surface inspection apparatus, even when the tablet t to be inspected is changed, the difference in the size of the tablet t can be allowed, and the vibration plate 62 that supplies the tablet t to the surface inspection drum 4 is provided. The tablet supply path 621 is not limited as long as the tablet t can be circulated in a flat state and the tablet does not have two rows in one supply path. Even if there is a slight change, the tablet t can be supplied satisfactorily with the same diaphragm 62. For this reason, the size (diameter or thickness) is not required to replace the front surface inspection drum 4, the back surface inspection drum 5, the vibration plate 62, and the like. ) Different tablets can be inspected.

  Furthermore, in the front and back surface inspection apparatus constituting the front and back surface inspection unit C in the present embodiment, the tablet t that has moved from the tablet container 61 to the one end of the diaphragm 62 in the tablet supply path 621 is transferred to the tablet supply roller 63. The tablet t is moved from one end of the diaphragm 62 onto the surface inspection drum 4 and supplied onto the surface inspection drum 4, so that the tablet t corresponds to the rotation speed of the tablet supply roller 63. In addition, it is stably supplied to the surface inspection drum 4 at a predetermined speed, and the appearance inspection of the front and back surfaces can be performed stably.

  Further, the supply speed of the tablet t to the surface inspection drum 4 can be adjusted by adjusting the rotation speed of the tablet supply roller 63, whereby the size of the tablet t and the tablet to the tablet storage unit 61 can be adjusted. It is possible to set the optimal tablet supply speed in consideration of the supply speed, required processing capacity, image capturing capacity, image processing capacity of captured images, etc. From this point of view, highly accurate and stable front and back surface inspection Can be performed efficiently.

  In addition, the side surface inspection device, the front and back surface inspection device, and the appearance inspection device of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately changed according to the purpose and the like. For example, in the above-described embodiment, first, the side inspection is performed by the side inspection apparatus of the side inspection section B, the side surface defective tablets are excluded, and then the front and back inspection is performed by the front and back inspection apparatus of the front and back inspection section C, Although it was comprised so that the tablet of front and back surface defect might be excluded, the side surface inspection part B and the front and back surface inspection part C were replaced, and the tablet was supplied from the vibration feeder 12 of the tablet supply part A to the tablet storage part 61 of the front and back surface inspection part C. First, the front and back surfaces are inspected to eliminate tablets having front and back defects, and then the tablets after the front and back surfaces inspection are placed in the alignment feeder 13 disposed below the front and back surface inspection portions C together with the side surface inspection portion B. It is also possible to supply and supply to the side inspection part B, perform side inspection to eliminate tablets with side defects, and collect only tablets that have no appearance defect on either side or front and back. it can.

  In this way, by configuring the side inspection after performing the front and back inspection, tablets that are greatly deformed due to chipping or cracking can be eliminated by the first front and back inspection, and at the side inspection section It is possible to reliably prevent such a trouble that the deformed tablet is clogged in the holding pocket of the side inspection drum during the side inspection, and to perform the appearance inspection of the tablet more stably.

  Further, the side surface inspection device and the front and back surface inspection device of the present invention can be used alone as an inspection device, respectively, and further, the appearance inspection device is configured by combining the side surface inspection device of the present invention and another front and back surface inspection device. Alternatively, on the contrary, the appearance inspection apparatus can be configured by combining another side surface inspection apparatus and the front and back surface inspection apparatus of the present invention. Furthermore, each structure of a side surface inspection apparatus and front and back surface inspection apparatus can also be changed suitably, for example, the simple vibration feeder similar to the vibration feeder 12 used for the tablet supply part A as the tablet accommodating part 61 of a front and back surface inspection apparatus. And a mechanism for removing defective tablets from the side inspection drum 2 and the back surface inspection drum 5 can be appropriately changed. Furthermore, the configuration of each inspection drum, the tablet supply mechanism, and the like may be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is the schematic which shows the external appearance inspection apparatus of the tablet which comprised the side surface inspection apparatus and front and back surface inspection apparatus concerning one Example of this invention. It is the schematic which made the cross section the part which shows the side surface inspection drum which comprises the side surface inspection apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the same side inspection drum. It is a partial expanded sectional view which shows the state which hold | maintained the tablet on the same side inspection drum. It is a partial expanded sectional view which shows the state which hold | maintained the tablet on the same side inspection drum. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the surface inspection drum and back surface inspection drum which comprise the front and back surface inspection apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the same surface inspection drum and a back surface inspection drum. It is a partial expanded sectional view which shows the state which hold | maintained the tablet to the same surface inspection drum and back surface inspection drum. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows the state which hold | maintained the tablet to the same surface inspection drum and back surface inspection drum. It is a partial expanded sectional view which shows the state at the time of delivering a tablet between the same surface inspection drum and a back surface inspection drum. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the tablet accommodating part which comprises the same front and back surface inspection apparatus. It is a schematic plan view which shows the same tablet accommodating part. It is the schematic which shows the state at the time of supplying a tablet from the diaphragm to the surface inspection drum in the front and back surface inspection apparatus. It is the schematic which shows the conventional external appearance inspection apparatus. It is the schematic which made a part the cross section which shows the side surface inspection drum which comprises the conventional external appearance inspection apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the outer cylinder of the side surface inspection drum which comprises the conventional external appearance inspection apparatus. It is a schematic perspective view explaining the operation | movement at the time of changing the attitude | position of the tablet of an upright state to a flat state in the conventional external appearance inspection apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

2 Side inspection drum 21 Shaft cylinder 212 Suction window 214 Compressed air injection nozzle 22 Inner cylinder 221 Rail groove 222 Through hole 223 Rubber ring 23 Outer cylinder 231 holding pocket 3 Side imaging device 4 Surface inspection drum 41 Inner cylinder 411 Through groove 42 Outer cylinder 421 Suction groove 422 Suction hole 423 Rubber ring 5 Back surface inspection drum 51 Inner cylinder 511 Through groove 513 Compressed air injection nozzle (compressed air injection part)
52 Outer cylinder 521 Suction groove 522 Suction hole 523 Rubber ring 6 Supply unit 61 Tablet storage unit 611 Turntable 612 Outer chamber 612a Outer chamber peripheral wall 613 Inner chamber 613a Inner chamber peripheral wall 614 Communication body 616 Communication window 617 Communication path 62 Vibration plate 621 Tablet supply path 63 Tablet supply roller 7 Front surface imaging device 8 Back surface imaging device A Tablet supply part B Side surface inspection part C Front and back surface inspection part t Tablet t 'defective tablet

Claims (10)

A surface inspection drum that conveys the tablet by holding the tablet in a flat shape supplied from the outside in a flat state with the thickness direction up and down and rotating it at a predetermined speed;
The outer peripheral surface is disposed in the state close to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum, receives the tablet from the surface inspection drum, holds the tablet in a flat state in which the tablet is reversed, and rotates at a predetermined speed. A back inspection drum for conveying the tablet by
A surface imaging device that captures a surface image of the tablet by photographing the tablet held on the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum;
In a tablet front and back surface inspection device comprising a back surface imaging device that photographs a tablet held on the outer peripheral surface of the back surface inspection drum and captures a back surface image of the tablet,
Each of the front surface inspection drum and the back surface inspection drum includes a suction groove formed in the outer circumferential surface of the drum along the circumferential direction, a plurality of suction holes provided continuously in the circumferential direction in the suction groove, Comprising at least a pair of rubber rings mounted across the suction hole along both side edges of the suction groove;
The inside of the suction groove is sucked through the suction hole by suction from the inside of the drum, and the tablet is sucked and held across the pair of rubber rings by this suction force,
The pair of rubber rings is a tablet front and back surface inspection device formed by extending the suction grooves so as to partially cover both side edges. A plurality of the suction grooves are formed,
The tablet front and back surface inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rubber ring is formed in a T-shaped cross section so as to protrude toward the suction groove adjacent to both sides. The said suction groove is formed in multiple numbers, According to the supply timing of the tablet supplied on each suction groove, it is comprised so that a tablet can be hold | maintained randomly between each tablet row | line | column. Tablet front and back inspection equipment. A diaphragm in which a tablet supply path through which tablets can circulate in a flat state is formed, and one end thereof is positioned in the vicinity of the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum, and is arranged in a state of being inclined downward toward the surface inspection drum,
Providing a tablet container for storing tablets on the other end of the diaphragm, and constituting a supply unit for supplying tablets to be inspected to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum;
The tablet in the tablet container is continuously introduced into the tablet supply path of the diaphragm, and the tablet introduced into the tablet supply path by continuously vibrating the diaphragm continuously to one end of the diaphragm. The tablet front / back surface inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tablet front and back surface inspection apparatus is configured to supply the tablet onto the surface inspection drum from one end of the vibration plate.   A tablet supply roller that rotates at an arbitrary speed is arranged at one end of the vibration plate in contact with or close to the tablet supply path, and the tablet is rotated from one end of the vibration plate to the surface inspection drum by the rotation of the tablet supply roller. The tablet front and back surface inspection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the tablet is supplied at a desired speed.   A tablet housing section of the supply section; a turntable rotating at a predetermined speed; an outer chamber formed by a ring-shaped peripheral wall disposed concentrically with the rotation center of the turntable on the turntable; Inside the chamber is formed by a ring-shaped peripheral wall having a smaller diameter than the outer chamber disposed eccentrically with the rotation center of the turntable, and a communication window communicating with the outer chamber is provided in a part of the peripheral wall. A chamber and one end disposed on the turntable in the outer chamber, and the other end having a communication path communicating with the tablet supply path of the diaphragm, and the tablet is inserted into the inner chamber and rotated. A tablet is supplied onto the turntable, the tablet is moved to the outer chamber through the communication window by centrifugal force, and the tablet is further introduced into the communication path by rotation of the turntable. Tablets Front and back side inspection device of a tablet according to claim 4 or 5 constructed as to road introducing tablets continuously.   The surface inspection drum and the back surface inspection drum each include a through-groove along the circumferential direction or an inner cylinder in which a large number of through-holes continuously formed along the circumferential direction are formed corresponding to at least a tablet conveyance range, and the suction An outer cylinder which has a groove, a suction hole and a rubber ring and which is disposed outside the inner cylinder and rotates at a predetermined speed along the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder. The tablet front and back surface inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6, configured to suck the inside of the suction groove of the outer cylinder through the through groove or the through hole provided in the inner cylinder. .   It has a defective product rejection mechanism that selectively excludes tablets held and conveyed on the outer peripheral surface of the back surface inspection drum, and images on both the front and back surfaces captured by the front surface imaging device and the back surface imaging device. A front / back surface defect determination unit that performs image processing to determine presence / absence of an appearance defect, and a defect having an appearance defect on the front surface and / or back surface by the defective product elimination mechanism according to the determination result of the front / back surface defect determination unit The tablet front / back surface inspection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the tablet is selectively excluded from the back surface inspection drum.   The defective product rejection mechanism is a compressed air ejection mechanism that injects compressed air from time to time according to a determination result of the front and rear surface failure determination unit from a compressed air ejection unit provided in the back surface inspection drum, and from the compressed air ejection unit to the back surface Claims configured to eject compressed air into the suction groove of the inspection drum and selectively exclude defective tablets held on the outer peripheral surface of the back inspection drum and transported to the relevant location from the outer peripheral surface of the back inspection drum. Item 9. The tablet front and back surface inspection apparatus according to Item 8. The tablet front and back inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
A tablet appearance inspection device comprising a tablet side surface inspection device for inspecting a side surface of a tablet before or after inspection by the front and back surface inspection device,
The side inspection apparatus is
An inner cylinder that continuously rotates at a predetermined speed;
A large number of through-hole-shaped holding pockets are formed on the peripheral wall, an outer cylinder that is rotatably arranged on the outer side of the inner cylinder and rotates intermittently along the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder,
A side imaging device that captures a side image of the tablet by photographing the tablet held in the holding pocket of the outer cylinder,
A flat tablet is accommodated in the holding pocket of the outer cylinder in an upright state with its radial direction up and down, and the tablet is rolled on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder by intermittent rotation of the outer cylinder. Transport,
While the outer cylinder is intermittently stopped during the conveyance, the tablet is photographed by the side imaging device while rotating the tablet in the holding pocket by the continuously rotating inner cylinder. The image of the entire side of the
By performing image processing on the obtained side image, it is configured to detect an appearance defect on the tablet side surface.
Tablet appearance inspection device.

Images